The St. Regis Venice

Stayed 3 nights here with my wife as part of our anniversary trip to Italy. The Pros: Staff was excellent and VERY helpful with every request and question. Hotel was in a GREAT location. Got upgraded to a Venetian Suite by using 3 NUA's which was nice, also were surprised with a bottle of champagne in our room on arrival. The Cons: Room had some issues that you would not expect from a 7 year old St. Regis property. The bathroom sinks would not drain unless the drain was completely removed. The shower had an awful smell (smelt like seaweed almost). Also even with the fan on full blast and the room set to 63 the room was still very hot. I know Italy does not have as good AC as the US but we did not encounter this problem in our other hotels in Italy. However the staff did deliver us a fan for the room.

First time in Venice and stayed at the St Regis. Impeccable hotel…..staff…location….facilities….just perfect.

Returning somewhere can be difficult, as you compare.... We had one night in 2022 with two perfect ( for us) connecting rooms with lovely views of the canal. We booked again for two nights this year and multiple times and multiple ways I shared request top floor, connecting rooms, far away from elevators. They got the away from elevators piece perfectly, but we were on floor 5, not 6, and it is an older space with hard surfaces, so sleep experience was disturbed over and over by guests above us (our rooms 2504 and 2502). They could have had us in connecting rooms, it was perfectly situated for that if they had given us 2506, yet the second room was instead next door but required a trip into the hall. The view was of the buildings around us, which was fine, other than construction starting at 7am. So, if you are a light sleeper and have specific requests, do a better job than I did to ensure your needs are met! I also recognize that because this was the most expensive hotel of our trip to Italy I had higher expectations. The staff were all lovely and I certainly felt sorry for them as the hotel was overrun with other Americans, 3 of whom were screaming at the concierge one morning as we were waiting in the lobby. They had set up an amazing tour of ST. Marks for us with Elisabetta as a tour guide, and we pre-booked a visit to Peggy Guggenheim as well. I am thrilled that we had 48 hours this visit so we could go get lost as we strolled around the amazing city of Venice.

So let me start off by saying the expectations are very high when you decide to stay at a St. Regis hotel. We have stayed at several of them over the years and they always have exceeded our expectations. Not the Venice location. Although it was very nice it fell short of the others we have stayed in the past and even non st.regis hotels on this trip. Why? Well, there is the moment when you walk into a room and see it for the first time. In this case we were underwhelmed. We had a suite but the furniture layout was sparse. So much empty space. And the furniture that was there was ok. Yet the bedroom area by the closet was super tight. One of the draws of staying at a St. Regis is the butler service. Since we have stayed at St. Regis before we were familiar with them. However, when we were escorted to our room not a word was said. For those going for the first time this is a shame because it is a draw. Just other little things that added up….carpets in hallway were badly in need of cleaning, concierege assistance was hit and miss between a grumpy guy and a friendly helpful guy. Check in process was not a warm reception, green juice for breakfast which is generally made on site came from a plastic premade bottle and the lounge bar area was way underutilized. We liked it but no wow factor.

Our sixth visit to Venice, our second stay at the St. Regis but our first in winter. We have stayed at some of the grand dames of the Venice hotels but the St. Regis is our favorite. It is tucked away down an alley from the designer shops so it is incredibly quiet. The rooms are comfortable and beautifully appointed. Beds and pillows incredibly comfortable. The lounge area is stunning. We have had ‘canal’ view rooms but sometimes this can mean a view of a sliver of the canal. Purchase the breakfast as part of room rate, otherwise it is quite expensive. The staff overall is kind and welcoming. At our first visit to the hotel, their computer systems were down and they could not check us in. While they were trouble shooting the problem, they provided a water taxi to give us a boat tour through the city to make the wait more enjoyable. Beautiful and delicious welcome gifts on both stays. Concierge is very helpful with lots of suggestions and good follow-through. My only issue with the hotel, on both visits, is the breakfast staff. The host/hostess and servers can be a little surly! Otherwise, highly highly recommend!